Economic Interests and Congressional Voting on Security Issues

Abstract

Most research on congressional consideration of foreign and defense policy concludes that ideology is the most important influence on roll call voting and that constituent economic interests are not very important. This paper challenges this conclusion on two grounds. First, most previous research conceives of constituent economic interests on these issues very narrowly, examining only the benefits constituents obtain from providing military goods and services rather than their economic stakes in the broader goals of national security policy. Second, constituent economic interests can influence the ideology of their representative, something most research does not consider. An examination of key votes on military resource allocation, intervention, and foreign aid from 1947 through 2000 supports these objections.

Keywords: American foreign policy, congressional voting, intervention, foreign aid, military spending, economic interests